Tuesday, April 01, 2014

April Fools? NO! I'm back y'all.

What would sound better to y'all: I spend the next few posts apologizing for dropping off the side of the blog-planet, or I pretend that I never skipped a beat and just go back to posting a few times a week and call it good?

You could tell me in the comments, but I already kinda decided I'm going to be all "my bad, sh*t got cray cray" right here, evaluate where I'm at and where I want to go, and go back to the regularly scheduled broadcast.

Sound good? I like how I'm asking as if anyone is still in this cricket-field of a readership. But if you are:

My bad, Sh*t got cray cray.

Mac: Also still unaware of how to dog when there are ducks near.

Let's take a quick inventory of our usual cast of characters, shall we?

KpMcD - Ended my time at the preschool. Doing FINvites 3/4-time, and house-wifing it the rest of the time. Loving that.

CMcD - Still has about a million life-altering big (and awesome) things on his plate. We will of course talk about those things in due time. Still happily married to little old me.

Bubba Gato - will turn 8 next month, still wins every night's game of tag, wearing a larger size harness for his outdoor trips because his Garfield impression continues to grow stronger.

Mac Dog - Officially 5 years old. Still amazing, still keeping me sane. Still loses every night's game of tag.

I think the best way to tie this end up would be to look back at 2013. Specifically, my post where I wrapped 2012 up and set goals for the new year. Before I went radio silent at the end of 2013, I had been working on these year-long goals:

Paintings: Check. Including one I sold through the easy monster of a lovely little pup who looks like an ewok.

Less Adrift: No-go. I still seem to have no idea where life is taking me, though I'm starting to come to terms with that idea because truly, it's a side-effect of being married to the love of my life and trying to figure out how to navigate life with another person. In 2013 that meant trying my hand as a professional dog trainer and figuring out that even though it was a super fun job I couldn't handle working retail. It meant starting an office job at a preschool and quickly getting promoted to a marketing job with the preschool. It meant putting the house on the market, taking the house off the market, making an offer on another house and getting turned down for that offer. Know what I did figure out? Blogging acts a bit like an anchor for me, and I missed it.

Grow Garden: Check! Though no chickens. I've got maybe a week until the ground is ready to start in on McDermott Produce Department 2014.

Kept it safe on the fridge all winter. Right next to my almost free burrito card.

Lose more weight. Uh... sadly no. Or yes? I lost 8 more pounds and then gained all 8 back. So neutral. Just have to get back on the "not putting all the carbs in my mouth" train.

Double KpQuePasa's numbers. Yes and no. Stats for posts stayed roughly the same, which I'm actually happy with considering I got so bad at staying on a schedule. Got up to 25 Facebook followers, so 11 shy of that part of the goal. But the Etsy Monster. I'm up to 14 sales there, so I kicked that goal's ass. Boom.

And that leaves us with 2014. I'm a little late to the game on this new-year's thing, but here's what I want to look forward to:

1. Art: Make a greater effort to create for myself. Fulfill a desire to make pretty and functional things. I'd like to look back on this in 2015 and have at least 4 great, fun creations to share. I've already got one down for sure (see Left):

Teenage Mutant Ninja Mac-Dog! The shell is a backpack. I can't even.

2. Career: Come to grips with the idea that The Mister makes me one of the luckiest damn people on the planet. In many ways. But for this bullet-point's purpose, that I am able to do what makes me happy instead of what makes me money. To wit, I think it's time to figure out how to make FINvites my main gig, and integrate that into life as the curator of KpQuePasa. I have ideas about growing the resources through FINvites, keeping business going strong until or while the "next big thing* comes along." For the record, it's already going pretty good - good enough to more or less make the fact that I quit at the preschool** a null-and-void point.

3. The Dreaded Number: The scale continues to be a torturous jerk. I actually just read this article and can't help but think that even with a tiny number like 29, it rings pretty true. Particularly the part about the number. I never used to be phased by a swing of 5 pounds any direction withinin a week, and now I see 2 pounds of difference between any two days and it festers in the back of my head like that banana you forgot in the back of the fridge three months ago. In any case, aiming for 13 less pounds by the time 2015 rears it's head, for a grand total of 42 dreaded pounds standing between 2012 and me.

We're talking, like, past the point of banana bread kind of festering.

4. Home Front: Grow a great garden that gives off enough awesome produce that I can freeze and can a few things come fall. Get home to Wisconsin at least once this summer. Manage to catch enough fish in one sitting for a meal while up north. Sell this tiny, but well-loved house. So basically, just be perfect. Right.